


Aftermath

by flubaphone



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Angst, Earth, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, London, Love, Mass Effect 3, Reaper - Freeform, Reaper Invasion, Reapers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-29
Updated: 2015-11-29
Packaged: 2018-05-04 00:34:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5313116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flubaphone/pseuds/flubaphone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lieutenant James Vega has something to live for now, and it comes in the form of a familiar asari woman.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Aftermath

The blood and gore of thousands of aliens, humans, and Reapers alike stained the streets of London. The corpses of fallen soldiers and Reapers lay strewn across the stone pathways, faces twisted in agony and eyes staring into a vast nothingness.  
Lieutenant James Vega ran.  
The muscles in his legs throbbed and ached with each step he took, yet he willed himself to continue sprinting forward, dodging the fallen bodies and the leftover enemies blocking his path. Every so often, he would shove a husk out of his way, or dodge the gaze of the ever-menacing brute, yet, for the most part, he did not stray from his path.  
He had to make it back to the Normandy.  
His feet carried him further than he would have expected, as the throbbing in his legs increased exponentially as he ran. He was almost certain a bullet had lodged itself in his body, as a searing pain in his side touched at his consciousness, threatening to take him at any moment. Nevertheless, he had to survive. He had to see her again.  
He was unsure of the actual length of time he had been running, whether hours, minutes, or seconds had passed, but finally the top of the Normandy appeared before him, peeking above the still-standing buildings of London. Vega’s heart thudded rapidly in his chest as he propelled himself forward, exerting himself to his fullest potential to reach his destination.  
The Normandy rested in the outskirts of London, away from the chaos and destruction released by the Reapers only hours before. Joker sat poised in the cockpit, ready to take off at a moment’s notice, if need be. He stared down at the barren wasteland below the Normandy, spotting Vega sprinting towards the ship in the process.  
“Oh, God damn it, Vega!” he groaned, throwing his hands up from the control panel in front of him. He sighed, furrowing his brow and grimacing. “I just got everything locked and sealed.” Joker rolled his eyes, then, with a swift motion, punched the door release on the control panel, which opened the side hatch of the ship. The ever-familiar hiss of the pressurized air echoed throughout the hull of the ship.  
“You have thirty seconds to get your ass over here, Vega,” Joker told himself threateningly. “Otherwise, I’m closing the goddamned hatch and leaving without you.”  
“What was that Joker?” A familiar, high-pitched voice resounded throughout the cabin, and Joker, startled, nearly fell out of the pilot’s seat.  
“God damn it, Liara!” he yelled, spinning the seat to face her directly. “A little warning, next time?”  
“My apologies, Mr. Moreau,” Liara tightened her lips, holding back a smug smile. “I didn’t mean to frighten you. I was just curious as to why you have opened the entrance. You’d just sealed everything.” She grimaced slightly as she shifted her weight, the throbbing in her left ankle increasing as she did so. She was certain she had severely sprained, if not broken, that portion of her leg, but she had not had a chance to have Dr. Chakwas examine the wound just yet. The rest of her body retained numerous cuts, gashes, and various other wounds, as the Reapers had done their fair share of damage to her as well. She had remained near the ship as the plans for Shepard to enter the Citadel came to life, her true purpose being to protect from any attack and prevent her demise at any cost.  
“Yeah, well, your knight in shining armor just decided he was going to make his grand entrance.” Joker remarked sarcastically, waving a nonchalant hand toward the side of the ship.  
“Vega?” Liara questioned, her eyes lighting up at the thought of his return. Her heart thudded noisily in her chest at the sound of his name. She had not expected him to come back. They had said their goodbyes hours before the final assault on Earth, and they both knew that, more likely than not, he would not be returning from the task.  
“I did say your knight in shining armor, didn’t I?”  
“He made it out…alive?”  
“Yes, Liara, for the love of God, I’m fairly certain I said your-” Joker began, but Liara had already sprinted out of the cockpit, headed directly for the entrance to the ship. She ignored the intense burning in her ankle as she found herself at the entrance, her heart thudding in her chest.  
A few moments later, the familiar hiss of the decontamination procedure and cabin repressurization audibly resounded through the strong steel door. Liara heard Vega’s ever-recognizable grunt as he tore off his helmet and began to breathe the fresh air of the cabin. The airlock door slid open, revealing to Liara a bloodied and grimy Lieutenant.  
“Liara,” He breathed, catching sight of the beautiful asari woman before him. Her blue skin glowed under the intense fluorescent lights of the cabin, and the white of her armor reflected brightly against his eyes. Her sapphire eyes, usually so cool and calm, were blotchy and red, and maintained a look of perpetual exhaustion and grief. She appeared as if it had been years since she had lain down and slept.  
“James,” she replied, in an equally breathless tone. She, too, eyed the wounds and the damage done to the human soldier. His face harbored hundreds of cuts, scratches, and bruises, and his armor had blown away at the left hip. He appeared to have bled immensely from the wound, yet was stanched shut by an extensive amount of medi-gel. More than likely, the Lieutenant was experiencing a combination of an adrenaline and medi-gel high.  
Liara found no time to be concerned with the apparently superficial wounds that Vega had sustained, as before she could say more he had scooped her into his arms and buried his face deep in her neck. He tightened his muscles around her in an endearing yet timid embrace. She involuntarily grunted at this sudden increase in pressure against her ribcage, though she enjoyed the familiarity and comfort his hold brought to her. She weaved her arms around Vega’s body as well, drawing him that much closer to her chest.  
“I’m so glad you’re all right,” Vega whispered into her neck, his breath wet and hot against the gentle fold of her neck. Her skin pricked and tingled at the warmth of his voice, and she whimpered slightly as his hold on her tightened even more.  
“As am I to you, Lieutenant,” she breathed back, her voice barely audible above the usual raucous grumble produced by the ship.  
“Liara, just call me James, for God’s sake. We’re not gonna get dinged for fraternization now, of all times.”  
“James,” Liara whispered, pressing her head against his collarbone and pulling his shoulders even closer to her. “Thank you for coming back.”  
“There was no way I was gonna leave you here, mi querida. No way in hell.” he replied. “I was always gonna come back for you, no matter what it took.” His voice was throaty, as if he had been screaming the entire night, which…of course he had. He pulled his face away from Liara’s throat and studied the asari woman’s face.  
Her skin was dry and cracked in spots, and a hundred years of stress appeared in wrinkled patterns across her forehead and in the crooks of her eyes. Her eyes had sunk deeper into her skull in the recent months, yet Vega still found himself lost in the vast oceans of her irises.  
Vega too, looked worse for wear at this point. Liara studied the hundreds of cuts and bruises that weaved frightening patterns across the valleys of his face. She longed to use the biotics flooding her veins to help heal every wound his body suffered. The liveliness and excitement his eyes usually maintained had all but burned out in the last few hours, leaving him with an empty, dimmed gaze. The only source of fire left in his life appeared to be the asari woman standing before him.  
Vega locked eyes with Liara, then, still maintaining fervent hold on her body. Fire flooded into the nerves of his lips, as burning desire overtook his entire body. His palms tingled under the curvature of her back and his fingertips brushed lightly against her shoulder blades, lighting similar fires in her veins.  
“James,” Liara breathed, pushing her face even closer to his. She could smell the sweat and gore that matted across Vega’s face, but the sour odor barely registered in her senses. Her body only recognized the tingling sensation the friction between their bodies created, and the desire that flooded the outer region of her lips.  
“I love you.” James whispered, unable to contain the fire burning at his core. He did not even wait for her response, though he knew of her reciprocation. He merely pushed his face against hers, planting his rough, chapped lips firmly, yet gently, against the soft, smooth ones of the asari. He grunted slightly as he shifted positions, still holding her body as close to his as he possibly could. She placed her hands against his broad chest, maintaining as firm of contact with his body as she could, her lips molding and forming against his as their bodies entangled in a mess of spontaneous, passionate love.  
Finally, Liara pulled away from James’ face, her heart thudding with unimaginable speed in her chest. James gazed back at the woman he loved, as a wave of contentment washed over him.  
“I love you too,” Liara began, after a moment of silence engulfed the cabin. “Mi sol.”  
The roughness of her Spanish made Vega giggle slightly, yet as he realized the significance of her words, his heart grew heavy and languid in his chest.  
“That was Spanish, Liara. How the hell…”  
“The asari are one of the most advanced species to ever dwell within the galaxy, Lieutenant. Surely, I’m capable of learning two words in a human language?” Liara replied smugly, her eyes gazing lovingly over Vega’s face.  
“I’m not complaining, little lady. Thank you.” He chuckled, embracing her tightly one more.  
The war outside continued to ravage the city, but, inside the steel walls of the Normandy, James Vega and Liara T’Soni found a small fragment of peace and calm.

**Author's Note:**

> Just a short T'Sega drabble because this is my OTP and I've yet to see enough fanfiction with this ship. Based off of (http://tinyurl.com/zyyrwuo) that prompt. Thank you so much for reading!


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